NORTH Ballarat Roosters’ coaching crisis is reaching boiling point.
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The Courier understands key player representatives are trying to meet with the football club’s board - possibly as soon as this weekend - with their concerns.
This includes issues with player retention and recruitment - which has seriously stalled - and club stability in the Victorian Football League.
The Roosters need to build a standalone list of more than 40 players this summer after ending a partial-alignment with AFL club North Melbourne.
But the Roosters are still without a coach in prime recruiting time – this includes potential player lures from rival VFL and grassroots clubs.
This comes after the Roosters announced Thursday morning they were still in the hunt when two final candidates fell through. One was North Ballarat Rebels under-18 head coach David Loader, who this week accepted a development role with AFL club North Melbourne.
The other candidate, not confirmed by the board, was Roosters head coach Gerard FitzGerald, who had reapplied after the board announced in June it would not extend his contract beyond 2015. The Courier understands contract negotiations had deteriorated before a final board ruling on Wednesday night.
In a poll run by The Courier, more than 170 readers had their say on “what is the way ahead for the Roosters?”.
At 3pm on Sunday, results saw 67.24 per cent of voters wanted the club to elect a new board, 21.26 per cent thought VFL intervention was required, while 11.49 per cent wanted to stick with the current board and give it time to develop its direction.
This follows North Ballarat co-captain Myles Sewell revealing he has full confidence in the board and selection panel entrusted to find the next coach of the Roosters.
Speaking on Friday, Sewell said although it would have been ideal to already have a senior coach appointed, it was important that time was taken to ensure the best candidate was chosen.
Meanwhile, FitzGerald’s manager was contacted by The Courier on Sunday, but declined to comment on the matter.
He preferred to wait until a radio interview on Monday morning to tell his story.
The Roosters are the only regional team in the VFL and finished ninth in 2015.